Dequeuing and congestion control systems and methods for single stream multicast

ABSTRACT

A system that processes single stream multicast data includes multiple queues, a dequeue engine, and/or a queue control engine. The queues temporarily store data. At least one of the queues stores single stream multicast data. A multicast count is associated with the single stream multicast data and corresponds to a number of destinations to which the single stream multicast data is to be sent. The dequeue engine dequeues data from the queues. If the data corresponds to the single stream multicast data, the dequeue engine examines the multicast count associated with the single stream multicast data and dequeues the single stream multicast data based on the multicast count. The queue control engine examines one of the queues to determine whether to drop data from the queue and marks the data based on a result of the determination.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/369,563, filed Apr. 4, 2002, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to congestion control during data transfer and, more particularly, to systems and methods for performing dequeuing and congestion control on single stream multicast data.

2. Description of Related Art

Conventional network devices, such as routers, relay streams of data through a network from a source to a destination. Typically, the network devices include one or more memory subsystems to temporarily buffer data while the network devices perform network-related functions, such as route processing or accounting.

A data stream may be considered a pipe of data packets belonging to a communication between a particular source and one or more particular destinations. A network device may assign a variable number of queues (e.g., where a queue may be considered a logical first-in, first-out (FIFO) buffer) to a data stream. For a stream with n queues, the relationship of queues and streams may be represented by:

${stream}_{bandwidth} = {\overset{n - 1}{\sum\limits_{0}}{{queue}_{bandwidth}.}}$

A problem that may arise in the use of queues is that congestion occurs if data builds up too quickly in the queues (i.e., data is enqueued at a faster rate than it is dequeued). Network devices typically address this problem by notifying sources of the packets of the congestion. This notification sometimes takes the form of dropping more recent packets received from the sources. It is sometimes a difficult and time-consuming process, however, to decide whether to drop a packet from a queue.

Additional problems result when single stream multicast packets are present. A single stream multicast packet is a packet from a single source to multiple different destinations within the same given stream. An example might include multiple frame relay circuits within a physical stream. Conventional network devices handle single stream multicast packets by replicating the packets an appropriate number of times. Each of the replicated packets corresponds to one of the different destinations. The network devices then store the replicated packets in a queue and send them out one replicated packet at a time.

To store and process the replicated packets, a significant amount of resources (e.g., memory) must be used. Memory is typically a valuable resource in a network device. As a result, it is important to efficiently use memory during processing of packets, including single stream multicast packets, by the network device.

Therefore, there is a need for efficient mechanisms for storing and processing single stream multicast packets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention address this and other needs by providing queuing, dequeuing, and congestion control techniques to efficiently process and buffer single stream multicast packets in a network device. The systems and methods store a single instance of a single stream multicast packet and maintain a multicast count that corresponds to the number of destinations to which the multicast packet is to be sent and identifies the number of times the copy of the multicast packet needs to be replicated.

In accordance with the principles of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a system that processes single stream multicast data includes multiple queues, a dequeue engine, and/or a queue control engine. The queues temporarily store data. At least one of the queues stores single stream multicast data. A multicast count is associated with the single stream multicast data and corresponds to a number of destinations to which the single stream multicast data is to be sent. The dequeue engine dequeues data from the queues. If the data corresponds to the single stream multicast data, the dequeue engine examines the multicast count associated with the single stream multicast data and dequeues the single stream multicast data based on the multicast count. The queue control engine examines one of the queues to determine whether to drop data from the queue and marks the data based on a result of the determination.

In another implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, a method for processing single stream multicast data includes receiving single stream multicast data; storing a single instance of the single stream multicast data in one of a plurality of queues; associating a multicast count with the single stream multicast data, the multicast count corresponding to a number of destinations to which the single stream multicast data is to be sent; examining the multicast count associated with the single stream multicast data when the single stream multicast data reaches a head of the one queue; and dequeuing the single stream multicast data based on the multicast count.

In yet another implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, a method for processing single stream multicast data includes receiving single stream multicast data; storing a single instance of the single stream multicast data in one of a plurality of queues; selecting the one queue for examination; determining whether to drop the single stream multicast data from a head of the one queue based on a drop profile; and marking the single stream multicast data based on a result of the determination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, explain the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary network device in which systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a packet forwarding engine (PFE) of FIG. 1 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of the memory system of FIG. 2 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of the packet information memory of FIG. 3 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of the queue control engine of FIG. 4 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of the oversubscription engine of FIG. 5 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary time line that facilitates measurement of bandwidth use according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of exemplary oversubscription processing according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 9A-9D are exemplary diagrams that illustrate oversubscription according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary diagram of the drop engine of FIG. 5 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 11 is an exemplary diagram of the drop decision logic of FIG. 10 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary graph of a drop profile according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary diagram of selective drop logic that performs selective packet dropping according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate a flowchart of exemplary processing by the drop engine of FIG. 10 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention; and

FIG. 15 is an exemplary diagram of queue selection using HIVec and LOVec vectors according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents of the recited claim limitations.

Systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention provide queuing, dequeuing, and congestion control mechanisms to efficiently process and buffer single stream multicast data. The systems and methods store a single instance of the single stream multicast data and maintain a multicast count that corresponds to the number of destinations to which the multicast data is to be sent. The multicast count also identifies the number of times that the copy of the multicast packet needs to be replicated.

Exemplary Network Device Configuration

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary network device in which systems and methods consistent with the principles of the invention may be implemented. In this particular implementation, the network device takes the form of a router 100. Router 100 may receive one or more packet streams from a physical link, process the stream(s) to determine destination information, and transmit the stream(s) on one or more links in accordance with the destination information.

Router 100 may include a routing engine (RE) 110 and multiple packet forwarding engines (PFEs) 120 interconnected via a switch fabric 130. Switch fabric 130 may include one or more switching planes to facilitate communication between two or more of PFEs 120. In an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, each of the switching planes includes a single or multi-stage switch of crossbar elements.

RE 110 performs high level management functions for router 100. For example, RE 110 communicates with other networks and systems connected to router 100 to exchange information regarding network topology. RE 110 creates routing tables based on network topology information, creates forwarding tables based on the routing tables, and sends the forwarding tables to PFEs 120. PFEs 120 use the forwarding tables to perform route lookup for incoming packets. RE 110 also performs other general control and monitoring functions for router 100.

Each of PFEs 120 connects to RE 110 and switch fabric 130. PFEs 120 receive packets on physical links connected to a network, such as a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), etc. Each physical link could be one of many types of transport media, such as optical fiber or Ethernet cable. The packets on the physical link are formatted according to one of several protocols, such as the synchronous optical network (SONET) standard or Ethernet.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram of a PFE 120 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. PFE 120 may include two packet processors 210 and 220, each connected to RE 110 and memory system 230. Packet processors 210 and 220 communicate with RE 110 to exchange routing-related information. For example, packet processors 210 and 220 may receive forwarding tables from RE 110, and RE 110 may receive routing information from packet processor 210 that is received over the physical link. RE 110 may also send routing-related information to packet processor 210 for transmission over the physical link.

Packet processor 210 connects to one or more physical links. Packet processor 210 may process packets received from the incoming links and prepare packets for transmission on the outgoing links. For example, packet processor 210 may perform route lookup based on packet header information to determine destination information for the packets. For packets received from the links, packet processor 210 may store data in memory system 230. For packets to be transmitted on the links, packet processor 210 may read data from memory system 230.

Packet processor 220 connects to switch fabric 130. Packet processor 220 may process packets received from switch fabric 130 and prepare packets for transmission to switch fabric 130. For packets received from switch fabric 130, packet processor 220 may store data in memory system 230. For packets to be transmitted to switch fabric 130, packet processor 220 may read data from memory system 230.

Packet processors 210 and 220 may store packet data and other packet information, such as control and/or address information, within separate portions of memory system 230. FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of memory system 230 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. In FIG. 3, memory system 230 includes a data memory system 310 and a packet information memory system 320. Data memory system 310 may store the data from a packet, possibly in non-contiguous locations. Packet information memory system 320 may store the corresponding packet information in queues based on, for example, the packet stream to which the packet information corresponds. Other information, such as destination information and type of service (TOS) parameters for the packet, may be used in determining the particular queue(s) in which to store the packet information.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a portion of packet information memory system 320 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. In FIG. 4, packet information memory system 320 includes queues 410, dequeue engine 420, and queue control engine 430. In addition, memory system 320 may include an enqueue engine (not shown) that stores data in queues 410.

Packet information memory system 320 may concurrently store packet information corresponding to multiple, independent packet streams. In an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, memory system 320 may contain separate queues 410, dequeue engines 420, and queue control engines 430 corresponding to each of the packet streams. In other implementations, dequeue engine 420 and queue control engine 430 may correspond to multiple streams.

Queues 410 may include a group of first-in, first-out (FIFO) buffers that corresponds to a single stream. Other queues (not shown) may be provided for other packet streams. Queues 410 share the bandwidth of a single packet stream. In one implementation, each of queues 410 is allocated a static amount of packet information memory system 320 at configuration time. The amount of packet information memory system 320 allocated to a particular queue may be determined based on factors, such as the round trip time (Rtt), delay, and bandwidth associated with the stream, that minimize the chance that the queue will overflow.

In the case of single stream multicast packets, queues 410 store only a single instance of the packet information corresponding to a multicast packet in an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Queues 410 may also store a multicast count for each of the multicast packets. The multicast count may correspond to the number of destinations to which the multicast packet is to be sent. For each transmission of an instance of a multicast packet, its corresponding multicast count may be decremented. When the multicast count equals one, the multicast packet may be removed from queue 410 and treated similar to a unicast packet (i.e., a packet sent from a single source to a single destination).

Each of queues 410 may have three parameters associated with it: a weight between 0 and 1, a priority PR parameter that is either HI or LO, and a rate-control RC parameter that is either ON or OFF. A queue's weight determines the fraction of the stream's bandwidth B that is statically allocated to the queue. For a queue with weight w, the statically allocated bandwidth sba is equal to w*B. The sum of the weights of the queues (e.g., queues 410) for a stream equal one. In other words, the entire bandwidth of a stream is allocated to the queues associated with that stream.

The PR parameter specifies which of two priority levels (HI or LO) is associated with a queue. In other implementations, there may be more than two priority levels. Queues 410 associated with a HI priority may be serviced before queues 410 associated with a LO priority. Queues 410 at the same priority level may, for example, be serviced in a round robin manner.

The RC parameter determines whether a queue is allowed to oversubscribe (i.e., output more packet information than its statically allocated bandwidth). If RC is OFF, then the queue is permitted to send up to the stream bandwidth B (the total bandwidth for the stream). If RC is ON, then the queue is rate controlled and not permitted to send more than its statically allocated bandwidth sba.

Each of queues 410 is allocated a particular portion of data memory system 310 that stores packet data corresponding to the packet information stored by the queue. The size of the portion of data memory system 310 allocated to a particular queue (referred to as the static memory allocated sma) may be determined based on the stream's static bandwidth. For example, the sma may be defined as the round trip time (Rtt) multiplied by the statically allocated bandwidth sba. The statically allocated bandwidth sba was defined above. In another implementation, the sma may also take into account the speed of the stream.

The bandwidth allocated to a stream is fixed at B even though different queues within the stream may have dynamically changing bandwidth utilization, as will be described below. The stream itself never needs more than Rtt (round trip time, which is defined as the maximum time allowed for a packet to travel from the source to the destination and send an acknowledgment back)*B of data memory system 310. This amount of data memory system 310 may be denoted by MA.

A delay bandwidth buffer is an amount of packet information memory system 320 equal to the network round trip time (Rtt) multiplied by the sum of the bandwidths of the output interfaces. An efficient way to allocate the delay bandwidth buffer is to share it dynamically among queues across all output interfaces.

Dequeue engine 420 may include logic that dequeues packet information from queues 410. The order in which the streams are examined by dequeue engine 420 is referred to as the service discipline. For example, the service discipline may include round robin or time division multiplexing techniques. For each examination of a stream, dequeue engine 420 may select one of queues 410 and dequeue packet information from it. To select the queue, dequeue engine 420 may use the queue parameters w, PR, and RC. For each dequeue operation, the corresponding packet data in data memory system 310 may be read out and processed.

In the case of a single stream multicast packet, dequeue engine 420 may examine the multicast count associated with the multicast packet. If the multicast count is greater than one, then dequeue engine 420 may dequeue a copy of the packet information in the queue and decrement the multicast count associated with the multicast packet. If the multicast count equals one, however, then dequeue engine 420 fully dequeues the packet information from the queue.

Queue control engine 430 may dynamically control the amount of data memory system 310 used by each queue. Since the total bandwidth for the stream is B, queue control engine 430 effectively controls the total amount of data memory system 310 used by queues 410 in a stream so that it does not exceed MA. The memory is allocated at the time the packet is received and reclaimed either by a drop process if the queue has exceeded its allocation (static and dynamic) or by a dequeue process when the packet is transmitted on a link.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of queue control engine 430 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Queue control engine 430 may include oversubscription engine 510 and drop engine 520. Oversubscription engine 510 may control whether any of queues 410 are permitted to output more packet information than their statically allocated bandwidth. Drop engine 520 may control whether to drop packet information from any of queues 410. Oversubscription engine 510 and drop engine 520 will be described in more detail below. While these engines are shown as separate, they may be integrated into a single engine or may otherwise share data between them (connection not shown).

Oversubscription Engine

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of oversubscription engine 510 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Oversubscription engine 510 may include bandwidth used random access memory (RAM) 610, average bandwidth used RAM 620, timer 630, and control logic 640. In an alternate implementation, bandwidth used RAM 610 and average bandwidth used RAM 620 are registers implemented within one or more memory devices, such as a flip flop.

Control logic 640 may include logic that coordinates or facilitates the operation of the components of oversubscription engine 510. For example, control logic 640 may perform calculations, write or read data to or from the RAMs, or simply pass information between components of oversubscription engine 510.

Bandwidth used RAM 610 may include multiple entries, such as one entry per queue. Each of the entries may store a variable that represents the instantaneous amount of bandwidth used (bs) by the queue during a time interval (Ta). When packet information is dequeued by dequeue engine 420 during the time interval Ta, the bs value may be incremented by the length of the corresponding packet. The bs value may be reset at periodic times identified by timer 630, such as the beginning or end of a time interval.

In the case of single stream multicast packets, the bs value for a queue may be incremented by the length of each instance of the multicast packet corresponding to the packet information dequeued by the queue during a time interval. In other words, the bs value for the queue may be calculated based on the length of the multicast packet times the number of instances of the corresponding packet information dequeued by the queue during the time interval. If a multicast packet is fully dequeued, the bs value is incremented by the packet length times the multicast count.

Average bandwidth used RAM 620 may include multiple entries, such as one entry per queue. Each of the entries may store data that represents a time-averaged measurement of the bandwidth used by the queue (bu) as computed during the time interval Ta. For example, the time-averaged measurement may be determined using an exponential weighted averaging with a decay coefficient chosen to make the computation as efficient as possible (e.g., two adds and a shift per time step). The weights in such an exponential weighted averaging function may be programmable.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary time line that facilitates measurement of bandwidth use according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. The units of bu are bytes/time-step. Let bu[i] be the value of the average bandwidth used as computed in time step i. Let bs[i] be the number of bytes sent by the queue in time step i and n be an integer that determines the decay coefficient (1−2^(−n)). By expanding the recursion starting at bu[i]:

bu[i]=bu[i−1]+2^(−n)(bs[i]−bu[i−1])

bu[i]=bu[i−1]*(1−2^(−n))+bs[i]*2^(−n)

Substituting r=(1−2^(−n)), the equation becomes:

$\begin{matrix} {{{bu}\lbrack i\rbrack} = {{{{bu}\left\lbrack {i - 1} \right\rbrack}*r} + {{{bs}\lbrack i\rbrack}*\left( {1 - r} \right)}}} \\ {= {{\left( {{{{bu}\left\lbrack {i - 2} \right\rbrack}*r} + {{{bs}\left\lbrack {i - 1} \right\rbrack}*\left( {1 - r} \right)}} \right)*r} + {{{bs}\lbrack i\rbrack}*\left( {1 - r} \right)}}} \\ {= {\left( {1 - r} \right)*{\begin{pmatrix} {{{bs}\lbrack i\rbrack} + {{{bs}\left\lbrack {i - 1} \right\rbrack}*r} + {{{bs}\left\lbrack {i - 2} \right\rbrack}*}} \\ {{r^{2} + {{{bs}\left\lbrack {i - 3} \right\rbrack}*r^{3}} + \ldots}\mspace{14mu}} \end{pmatrix}.}}} \end{matrix}$

As can be seen, the bandwidth used by a queue is a function of the bandwidth used by the queue in all the previous time intervals.

The final equation is an exponential weighted average with coefficient r. To get an idea of how many steps k it takes for the coefficients r^(k) to become “small,” the following binomial expansion may be used:

(1−2^(−n))^(k)˜1−k*2^(−n)

as long as k*2^(−n) is much less than 1. This means that as long as k is significantly less than 2^(n), the terms are taken into account almost fully, but as k approaches 2^(n), r^(k) will start to drop off rapidly and so the terms become less and less significant.

Returning to FIG. 6, timer 630 may include a programmable register and/or counter that identifies the times at which time averaging may be performed to generate bu. At the beginning of a programmable time interval Ta, the bs value in bandwidth used RAM 610 may be reset to zero. At the end of the time interval Ta, the current bs value may be read from bandwidth used RAM 610 and the average bu value (computed in the previous time interval) may be read from average bandwidth used RAM 620. A weighted averaging function may then be performed on these values, such as the one described above, and the resultant value may be stored in average bandwidth used RAM 620. The bs value in bandwidth used RAM 610 may then be reset to zero again at the beginning of the next time interval Ta+l and the process repeated.

Control logic 640 may reallocate bandwidth to permit oversubscription based on the bandwidth actually used by queues 410. For example, control logic 640 may determine the average bandwidth bu used by each of queues 410 and reallocate bandwidth to certain ones of queues 410 if the queues permit oversubscription based on the RC parameter associated with the queues.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of exemplary oversubscription processing according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. In this implementation, control logic 640 performs oversubscription processing at the programmable time interval determined by timer 630. In other implementations, control logic 640 performs this processing at other times, which may be based on certain criteria, such as traffic flow-related criteria.

Processing may begin with control logic 640 determining the instantaneous bandwidth bs used by queues 410 (act 810). To make this determination, control logic 640 may read bs values, corresponding to queues 410, from bandwidth used RAM 610. As described above, the bs value for a queue may be calculated based on the length of one or more packets or one or more instances of a multicast packet corresponding to the packet information dequeued by the queue during a time interval.

Control logic 640 may use the bs values and the bu values from the previous time interval to determine the average bandwidth bu used by queues 410 during the current time interval (act 820). To make this determination, control logic 640 may take a time-averaged measurement of the bandwidth used by performing an exponential weighted averaging with a decay coefficient chosen to make the computation as efficient as possible (e.g., two adds and a shift per time step). A method for determining the average bandwidth bu has been described above.

Control logic 640 may use the average bandwidth bu to reallocate bandwidth to queues 410 (act 830). For example, control logic 640 may identify which of queues 410 permit oversubscription based on the RC parameters associated with queues 410. If the average bandwidth bu used by a queue is less than its statically allocated bandwidth, the unused portion of the bandwidth may be divided among the queues that are permitted to oversubscribe and need extra bandwidth. Any queue that is not permitted to oversubscribe cannot use any of the unused bandwidth.

FIGS. 9A-9D are exemplary diagrams that illustrate oversubscription according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Assume that there are four queues Q0-Q3 that share a stream's bandwidth B. Assume further that Q0 has a weight of 0.7 and Q1-Q3 each has a weight of 0.1. In other words, Q0 is allocated 70% of the bandwidth B and each of Q1-Q3 is allocated 10% of the bandwidth B. FIG. 9A illustrates such a configuration.

Assume further that RC is OFF for Q0-Q2 and ON for Q3. Therefore, Q0-Q2 are permitted to oversubscribe and Q3 is rate controlled and not permitted to oversubscribe. Assume that Q0 uses almost none of the bandwidth allocated to it. In this case, Q1 and Q2 may share the bandwidth unused by Q0. Accordingly, 0% of the bandwidth B is used by Q0, 45% is dynamically reallocated to each of Q1 and Q2, and 10% remains allocated to Q3. FIG. 9B illustrates such a configuration.

Assume at some later point in time that control logic 640 determines that traffic on Q0 increases based on the average bandwidth bu used by Q0, such that Q0 requires 40% of the bandwidth B. In this case, Q0 reclaims some of its bandwidth from Q1 and Q2. Since Q0 needs 40% of the bandwidth B, the remaining 30% unused by Q0 is divided between Q1 and Q2. Therefore, 40% of the bandwidth B is dynamically reallocated to Q0, 25% is dynamically reallocated to each of Q1 and Q2, and 10% remains allocated to Q3. FIG. 9C illustrates such a configuration. The reallocation of bandwidth is equal between Q1 and Q2 as long as they can use that bandwidth. If Q1 has just enough traffic to use 15% of the overall bandwidth, then Q2 will get 35% of the total bandwidth. FIG. 9D illustrates such a configuration.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the bandwidth allocated to queues 410 in a given time interval is related to both the queues' statically allocated bandwidth and the bandwidth used by the queues. This dynamic allocation process may be summarized as: (1) allocating the available bandwidth in proportion to the queues' statically allocated bandwidth; and (2) distributing the excess bandwidth among active queues in proportion to their excess bandwidths used in previous time intervals.

Drop Engine

Drop engine 520 may include RED logic that controls the amount of data memory system 310 used by queues 410 such that the average latency through queues 410 remains small even in the presence of congestion. The drop process is profiled in the sense that the probability of a packet information drop is not fixed, but is a user-specifiable function of how congested a queue is. Generally, the drop process may make its drop decision based on the ratio between the current queue length and the maximum permissible queue length.

Drop engine 520 makes its drop decision based on the state of queues 410, not on the state of the stream. Drop engine 520 may operate in a round robin fashion on all of the active queues. By design, it has a higher probability of examining more active queues rather than inactive queues to keep up with the data rate of a quickly-filling queue.

The drop decision is made at the head of queues 410 rather than at the tail, as in conventional systems. A benefit of dropping at the head of queues 410 is that congestion is signaled earlier to traffic sources, thereby providing tighter latency control. By comparison, a tail drop can result in the congestion signal being delayed by as much as Rtt compared to a head drop because a more recent packet is being dropped whose response time-out will expire later. Also, if queues 410 are allowed to oversubscribe and use more memory than allocated to them, then head drop provides a way to cut back excess memory use when a queue's bandwidth suddenly drops because a previously inactive queue has started to use its share of the bandwidth again.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary diagram of drop engine 520 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Drop engine 520 may include static memory allocated RAM 1010, memory used RAM 1020, pending RED visit (PRV) RAM 1030, indexing logic 1040, drop profile 1050, drop decision logic 1060, and control logic 1070. In an alternate implementation, static allocated RAM 1010, memory used RAM 1020, and PRV RAM 1030 are registers implemented within one or more memory devices, such as a flip flop.

Control logic 1070 may include logic that coordinates or facilitates the operation of the components of drop engine 520. For example, control logic 1070 may perform calculations, write or read to or from the RAMs, or simply pass information between components of drop engine 520.

Static memory allocated RAM 1010 may include multiple entries, such as one entry per queue. Each of the entries may store the variable sma, corresponding to the queue, that identifies the amount of data memory system 310 that should be made available to the queue (in the case where it is not allowed to oversubscribe due to RC being set or all of the other queues using their allocated bandwidth and, thereby, sparing no unused bandwidth). As defined above, sma is defined as the round trip time Rtt multiplied by the statically allocated bandwidth sba.

Memory used RAM 1020 may include multiple entries, such as one entry per queue. Each of the entries may store a variable mu that represents the amount of data memory system 310 actually being used by the queue. Storage space within data memory system 310 may be allocated dynamically at the time a packet is received and reclaimed at some time after the packet is transmitted by router 100. The variable mu, which counts bytes or cells (e.g., 64 byte data blocks) of data, may be used to track the amount of data memory system 310 used by the queue.

When packet information is enqueued, the mu value may be incremented by the length of the corresponding packet. Because packet data of a single stream multicast packet is not replicated within data memory system 310, the multicast packet is treated similar to a unicast packet for purposes of calculating the mu value in an implementation consistent with the present invention. In other words, when packet information for a single stream multicast packet is enqueued, the mu value may be incremented by the length of the corresponding multicast packet, without regard to the packet's multicast count.

When packet information is dequeued by dequeue engine 420 or dropped by drop engine 520, the mu value may be decremented by the length of the corresponding packet. In the case of a single stream multicast packet, the mu value may be decremented by the length of the corresponding multicast packet when the multicast packet is fully dequeued by dequeue engine 420 (i.e., when the multicast packet has a multicast count of one) or dropped by drop engine 520.

PRV RAM 1030 may include multiple entries, such as one entry per queue. Each of the entries may store a variable pry that controls how many times the queue will be examined by drop engine 520. When packet information (corresponding to a unicast or single stream multicast packet) is enqueued, the pry value may be incremented by one. When packet information is fully dequeued by dequeue engine 420 or an examination of the queue by drop engine 520 occurs, the pry value may be decremented by one, if the pry value is greater than zero. The goal is to allow drop engine 430 to visit each packet at the head of the queue just once. A queue visited once may not be visited again unless the packet just visited got dropped or the packet gets dequeued by dequeue engine 420.

Statistically, more drop engine 520 examinations and pry value decrements occur for single stream multicast packets compared to non-single stream multicast packets. Dequeue rates, however, are not affected by the fact of whether a packet is a single stream multicast packet.

Indexing logic 1040 may include logic for creating an index into drop profile 1050. Drop profile 1050 may include a memory that includes multiple addressable entries. Each of the entries may store a value that indicates the probability of a drop. For example, assume that drop profile 1050 includes 64 entries that are addressable by a six bit address (or index). In an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, each of the entries includes an eight bit number representing a drop probability. The drop probability may always be greater than or equal to zero.

Indexing logic 1040 may generate the index into drop profile 1050 using, for example, the expression:

index=mu/MAX*K,

where MAX is the maximum of the values of sma (static memory allocated) and dma (dynamic memory allocated, which is the amount of data memory system 310 that should be made available to a particular queue and is defined as the average bandwidth used bu*(Rtt/Ta)), and K may include a value that refers to the number of entries in drop profile 1050, such as 64. This may be considered a dynamic index because its value may change based on changes to the variable dma. In an alternate implementation, indexing logic 1040 may generate a static index using, for example, the expression:

index=(mu/sma)*64.

This may be considered a static index because the value of sma will not change. According to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, the index generated is a six bit value. In other implementations, other size indexes are possible.

If the situation occurs where mu becomes greater than MAX, then the ratio of mu/MAX results in a value larger than one. When this happens, the index may contain a value that points to somewhere outside drop profile 1050. In this case, drop decision logic 1060 may consider this a must drop situation and drop the packet unless the packet contains an attribute, such as a keep alive attribute, that indicates that the packet should not be dropped.

In some situations, an index threshold may be used. The drop profile may be a monotonically non-decreasing function with the drop probability of zero at index zero and the drop probability of one at index 63. The index threshold may be set, such that if the index value generated by indexing logic 1040 is less than or equal to the threshold value, the lookup in drop profile 1050 may be skipped and the packet not dropped.

In another implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, packet attributes, such as the packet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and/or Packet Level Protocol (PLP), may be used in conjunction with the index as an address into drop profile 1050. In this case, drop profile 1050 may include multiple profile tables, each having multiple addressable entries. The packet attributes may be used to select among the profile tables. For example, two bits representing the TCP and PLP of a packet may be used to select among four different profile tables in drop profile 1050. The index may then be used to identify an entry within the selected table. In this way, a certain set of attributes extracted from the packets may be used to perform an intelligent drop.

Drop decision logic 1060 may include logic that makes the ultimate drop decision based, in part, on the drop probability in drop profile 1050 and one or more programmable thresholds. FIG. 11 is an exemplary diagram of drop decision logic 1060 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Drop decision logic 1060 may include a comparator 1110 that operates upon mu/MAX (generated by indexing logic 1040), a first programmable threshold (T/H₁), and a second programmable threshold (T/H₂), such that T/H₁≦T/H₂. Comparator 1110 compares mu/MAX to each of the first and second thresholds (T/H₁ and T/H₂, respectively) and either drops, selectively drops, or does not drop based on the comparison.

FIG. 12 is a graph of an exemplary drop profile according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. For example, if mu/MAX is less than or equal to T/H₁, then drop decision logic 1060 does not drop any packets. This may occur when the amount of data memory system 310 actually used by a queue is only a fraction of the amount of data memory system 310 allocated to the queue. If mu/MAX is greater than or equal to T/H₂, then drop decision logic 1060 always drop packets. This may occur when the amount of data memory system 310 actually used by a queue substantially equals the amount of data memory system 310 allocated to the queue.

If mu/MAX is greater than T/H₁ but less than T/H₂, however, then drop decision logic 1060 selectively drops packets. FIG. 13 is an exemplary diagram of selective drop logic 1300 that performs selective packet dropping according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Selective drop logic 1300 includes random number generator 1310, comparator 1320, and AND gate 1330. Random number generator 1310 may include a pseudo random number generator, such as a linear feedback shift register that creates a pseudo random number that has a uniform distribution between zero and one. Random number generator 1310 may generate a random number that has the same number of bits as the drop probability value from drop profile 1050. To increase randomness, however, random number generator 1310 may generate a random number that has a greater number of bits than the drop probability value from drop profile 1050.

Random number generator 1310 may implement functions represented by the following:

lfsr_galois(int state) { int x0, x5, x12; if (0x0001 & state) { state = state>> 1; state = state {circumflex over ( )} 0x8000 {circumflex over ( )} 0x0800 {circumflex over ( )} 0x0010; } else state = state >> 1; return(state); } to generate the random number.

Comparator 1320 may compare the random number from random number generator 1310 to the drop probability value from drop profile 1050. AND gate 1330 may perform a logical AND operation on the result of the comparison and a “DO NOT DROP” signal, which may be generated based on the presence or absence of an attribute, such as a keep alive attribute, that may be extracted from the packet. In an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention, comparator 1320 and AND gate 1330 may be designed to output a drop decision to: (1) drop the packet information if the random number is less than the drop probability value and the DO NOT DROP signal indicates that the packet information may be dropped; (2) not drop the packet information if the random number is less than the drop probability value and the DO NOT DROP signal indicates that the packet information should not be dropped; and (3) not drop the packet information if the random number is not less than the drop probability value regardless of the value of the DO NOT DROP signal.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate a flowchart of exemplary processing by drop engine 520 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Drop engine 520 may operate in parallel to dequeue engine 420. Therefore, packet information memory system 320 may include mechanisms to arbitrate between drop engine 520 and dequeue engine 420 competing for the same resource (i.e., the same packet information at the head of a queue). In implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, drop engine 520 and dequeue engine 420 may be permitted to access different packet information on the same queue.

Optionally, drop engine 520 may select a stream to examine (act 1405) (FIG. 14A). For example, drop engine 520 may use a round robin technique or another technique to determine which of the possible streams to examine next. Alternatively, in another implementation, drop engine 520 may consider all of the queues in a round robin manner without first selecting a stream. In this case, act 1405 may be unnecessary.

Once a stream has been selected, if necessary, drop engine 520 may select a queue to examine based on, for example, the queues' pry values (act 1410). The drop engine 520 may use round robin arbitration to select the next queue with a pry value greater than zero.

Alternatively, drop engine 520 may construct two bit vectors (HIVec and LOVec) and perform a round robin over these vectors to select the next queue to examine. The HIVec and LOVec vectors may be defined as follows:

for queue_(i), where i = 0 to total number of queues: if (mu_(i) > MAX_(i)), HIVec[i] = 1; else { if (mu_(i) < (MAX_(i)/X)), LOVec[i] = 0; else LOVec[i] = (prv[i] > 0) } where X is an integer, such as 16. This conserves drop engine 520 examinations of a queue when mu is small compared to MAX and forces drop engine 520 examinations when mu exceeds MAX/X. When mu is very small compared to MAX, the drop probability will be small. Keeping LOVec reset allows drop engine 520 to visit other more active queues.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary diagram of queue selection using the HIVec and LOVec vectors according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Drop engine 520 may use the two bit vectors HIVec and LOVec to select the next queue to examine. Drop engine 520 may begin searching HIVec at HIPtr+1 looking for the first queue i that has HIVec[i]=1. If there is no such queue, then drop engine 520 may search LOVec starting at LOPtr+1 looking for the first queue i that has LOVec[i]=1.

Returning to FIG. 14A, when drop engine 520 finds a queue i, it determines the variable dma (i.e., the average bandwidth used bu*Rtt) and, from it, the variable MAX (act 1415). As described above, MAX is defined as the maximum of the values of sma from static memory allocated RAM 1010 and dma. From MAX, drop engine 520 generates an index into drop profile 1050 (act 1420). As described above, the index may be defined as: mu/MAX*K. For example, the generated index may be a six bit number. If the ratio of mu/MAX results in a value greater than or equal to one, then drop engine 520 may drop the packet (if the packet does not contain an attribute, such as a keep alive attribute).

Drop engine 520 may compare mu/MAX to first and second programmable thresholds (T/H₁ and T/H₂, respectively) (acts 1425 and 1435). If mu/MAX is less than or equal to T/H₁, drop engine 520 may mark the packet as not to be dropped (act 1430). Marking may be done by simply setting a bit associated with the packet or by dropping or not dropping packet information from the queue.

If mu/MAX is greater than or equal to T/H₂, drop engine 520 may determine whether the packet includes a packet attribute, such as a keep alive attribute, that indicates that it is not to be dropped (act 1440). The presence or absence of this packet attribute may be used to generate the DO NOT DROP signal. If the DO NOT DROP signal indicates that the packet should not be dropped, then drop engine 520 may mark the packet as not to be dropped (act 1445). Otherwise, drop engine 520 may mark the packet for dropping (act 1450). This may result in the removal of the associated packet information from the queue by drop engine 520 or by the queue itself.

If mu/MAX is greater than T/H₁ but less than T/H₂, then drop engine 520 may use the index (mu/MAX*K) to access drop profile 1050 and obtain a drop probability (act 1455) (FIG. 14B). If drop profile 1050 contains more than one profile table, drop engine 520 may use packet attributes to select one of the profile tables. Drop engine 520 may then use the index as an address into the selected profile table and read a drop probability value therefrom.

Drop engine 520 may determine a drop decision by comparing the drop probability value to a random number (acts 1460 and 1465). The random number may be generated by random number generator 1310. If the random number is less than the drop probability value, drop engine 520 may determine whether the packet includes a packet attribute, such as a keep alive attribute, that indicates that it is not to be dropped (act 1470). The presence or absence of this packet attribute may be used to generate the DO NOT DROP signal.

If the random number is less than the drop probability value and the DO NOT DROP signal indicates that the packet may be dropped, then drop engine 520 may mark the packet for dropping (act 1475). If the DO NOT DROP signal, in this case, indicates that the packet is not to be dropped, then drop engine 520 may mark the packet as not to be dropped (act 1480). If the random number is not less than the drop probability value, regardless of the value of the DO NOT DROP signal, then drop engine 520 may mark the packet as not to be dropped (act 1480).

In response to a decision to drop, drop engine 520 may remove the associated packet information from the queue. Alternatively, the queue may discard the packet information itself when instructed by drop engine 520.

CONCLUSION

Systems and methods, consistent with the principles of the invention, efficiently process and store single stream multicast data. The systems and methods store only a single instance of the multicast data and associate a multicast count with the multicast data. The multicast count corresponds to the number of destinations to which the multicast data is to be sent and is decremented upon each dequeue operation performed on the multicast data.

The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. For example, dequeue engine 420 and queue control engine 430 have been described as separate components. In other implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, the engines may be integrated into a single engine that both dequeues and drops packet information.

Also, while some memory elements have been described as RAMs, other types of memory devices may be used in other implementations consistent with the principles of the invention.

Further, while series of acts have been described with respect to FIGS. 8, 14A, and 14B, the order of the acts may differ in other implementations consistent with the principles of the invention.

Certain portions of the invention have been described as “logic” that performs one or more functions. This logic may include hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit or a field programmable gate array, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

No element, act, or instruction used in the description of the present application should be construed as critical or essential to the invention unless explicitly described as such. Also, as used herein, the article “a” is intended to include one or more items. Where only one item is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents. 

1.-36. (canceled)
 37. A method comprising: receiving single stream multicast data; storing a single instance of the single stream multicast data in a particular queue of a plurality of queues; storing a multicast count associated with the single stream multicast data in the particular queue, the multicast count corresponding to a quantity of destinations to which the single stream multicast data is to be sent; examining the multicast count associated with the single stream multicast data when the single stream multicast data reaches a head of the particular queue; dequeuing a copy of the single stream multicast data and decrementing the multicast count when the multicast count is greater than one; and dequeuing the single stream multicast data based on the multicast count when the multicast count equals one.
 38. The method of claim 37, further comprising: allocating a particular amount of bandwidth to each queue of the plurality of queues; determining an instantaneous amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each queue of the plurality of queues; determining an average amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each queue of the plurality of queues; and determining bandwidth use by each of the queues based on the instantaneous bandwidth used and the average bandwidth used by each queue of the plurality of queues.
 39. The method of claim 38, where the instantaneous bandwidth used by the particular queue is determined by counting a number of copies of the single stream multicast data dequeued from the particular queue during a time interval.
 40. The method of claim 37, further comprising: generating a drop decision regarding the single stream multicast data based on whether the single stream multicast data includes an attribute that indicates that the single stream multicast data should not be dropped.
 41. The method of claim 37, further comprising: selecting the particular queue for examination; determining whether to drop the single stream multicast data from a head of the particular queue based on a drop profile; and marking the single stream multicast data based on a result of the determination.
 42. The method of claim 41, where the selecting the particular queue includes: selecting the particular queue based on the multicast count.
 43. The method of claim 41, further comprising: decrementing the multicast count when the particular queue is selected for examination.
 44. A network device, comprising: a plurality of queues to temporarily store data, a particular queue of the queues storing a first type of data, a count being stored with the first type of data in the particular queue; a queue control engine to: examine one of the plurality of queues to determine whether to drop data from the particular queue, and mark the data, from the particular queue, based on a result of the determination; and a dequeue engine to dequeue data from the plurality of queues, if the data corresponds to the first type of data, the dequeue engine is further to: examine the count associated with the first type of data when the first type of data reaches a head of the particular queue, dequeue a copy of the first type of data and decrement the count when the count is greater than one; and dequeue the first type of data based on the count when the count equals one.
 45. The network device of claim 44, where the queue control engine is further to: allocate a particular amount of bandwidth to each of the plurality of queues; determine an instantaneous amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues; determine an average amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues; and determine bandwidth use by each of the queues based on the instantaneous bandwidth used and the average bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues.
 46. The network device of claim 45, where, when determining the instantaneous bandwidth used by particular queue, the queue control engine is to count a number of copies of the first type of data dequeued from the particular queue during a time interval.
 47. The network device of claim 44, where the first type of data corresponds to single stream multicast data and where the queue control engine is further to: determine whether the data includes an attribute that indicates that the data is not to be dropped, and generate a drop decision regarding the single stream multicast data based on whether the single stream multicast data includes an attribute that indicates that the single stream multicast data should not be dropped.
 48. The network device of claim 44, where the queue control engine is further to: select the particular queue for examination; determine whether to drop the first type of data from a head of the particular queue based on a drop profile; and mark the first type of data based on a result of the determination.
 49. The network device of claim 48, where the queue control engine is further to: select the particular queue based on the multicast count.
 50. The network device of claim 48, where, when selecting the particular queue, the queue control engine is further to: decrement the count when the particular queue is selected for examination.
 51. A system comprising: a plurality of queues to temporarily store data, a particular queue of the queues storing a first type of data, a count being stored with the first type of data in the particular queue; and one or more processors to: examine the count associated with the first type of data when the first type of data reaches a head of the particular queue; dequeue a copy of the first type of data and decrement the count when the count is greater than one; and dequeue the first type of data based on the count when the count equals one.
 52. The system of claim 51, where the one or more processors are further to: allocate a particular amount of bandwidth to each of the plurality of queues; determine an instantaneous amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues; determine an average amount of the allocated bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues; and determine bandwidth use by each of the queues based on the instantaneous bandwidth used and the average bandwidth used by each of the plurality of queues.
 53. The system of claim 51, where the first type of data corresponds to single stream multicast data, and where the one or more processors are further to: determine whether the single stream multicast data includes an attribute that indicates that the data is not to be dropped, and generate a drop decision regarding the single stream multicast data based on whether the single stream multicast data includes an attribute that indicates that the single stream multicast data should not be dropped.
 54. The system of claim 51, where the one or more processors are further to: select the particular queue for examination; determine whether to drop the first type of data from a head of the particular queue based on a drop profile; and mark the first type of data based on a result of the determination.
 55. The system of claim 54, where, when selecting the particular queue, the one or more processors are further to: select the particular queue based on the count.
 56. The system of claim 54, where the one or more processors are further to: decrement the count when the particular queue is selected for examination. 